Daniel Marshallhttp://robbreport.com/taxonomy/term/25231/all
enThinking Inside the Box for a Pairing of Single Malt and Cigarshttp://robbreport.com/wine-spirits-cigars/thinking-inside-box-pairing-single-malt-and-cigars
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<a href="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/styles/galleria_full/public/images/articles/2014Jan/443791//p18cgavtvg1fmev4a172o1cp3h634.jpg?itok=CBhP67Dd" rel="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/images/articles/2014Jan/443791//p18cgavtvg1fmev4a172o1cp3h634.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-watch-collector-148x173" src="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/styles/watch_collector_148x173/public/images/articles/2014Jan/443791//p18cgavtvg1fmev4a172o1cp3h634.jpg?itok=ctEVaasM" alt="" title="Daniel Marshall 1962 Balvenie Whisky Stave Humidor" /></a><a href="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/styles/galleria_full/public/images/articles/2014Jan/443791//p18cgavtvgsd310bg6p82nq13845.jpg?itok=rH0XNK78" rel="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/images/articles/2014Jan/443791//p18cgavtvgsd310bg6p82nq13845.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-watch-collector-148x173" src="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/styles/watch_collector_148x173/public/images/articles/2014Jan/443791//p18cgavtvgsd310bg6p82nq13845.jpg?itok=cESVd01V" alt="" /></a></div>
</figure></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even">
<a href="/content/richard-carleton-hacker">Richard Carleton Hacker</a>
</li></ul></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Ever wonder what happens to all those used Scotch-whisky barrels once the distilleries are through with them? Up until now, huge planters and awkward-looking furniture were among the most viable solutions. But <strong>Daniel Marshall</strong>, who has been making luxury cigar humidors since 1982, had a better idea: Why not turn them into humidors? After all, single-malt whisky and cigars are one of the world’s classic pairings. But specifically, it was The Balvenie 21 Year Old Portwood casks that caught Marshall’s attention. After aging the whisky in ex-bourbon barrels, The Balvenie’s master blender, Brian Kinsman, transfers it into European-oak port casks or “pipes” for additional finishing, thus giving this already mellow and honeyed whisky a deeper raisin-and-nut spiciness.</p>
<p>Seizing upon the opportunity, Marshall has created the Daniel Marshall 1962 Balvenie Whisky Stave Humidor. At the distillery in Dufftown, The Balvenie—one of the few distilleries that still employs its own on-site barrel makers—has the master cooper Ian McDonald hand-select a number of 50-year-old, uncharred ex-Portwood barrels, which are then shipped to Marshall’s Tustin, Calif., workshop. There, Marshall carefully selects the best of the aged and gray weathered staves, which still bear iron-strap marks in the wood.</p>
<p>“We want the staves to be old and rich in texture and color,” Marshall says, “both on the outside of the stave and on the inside.” He cuts the curved pieces out of the stave and uses only the straight pieces, which means half of each barrel is unusable (thus limiting the number of humidors he can make). Each humidor is lined on the inside with the inside of the barrel; the outside of the barrel is left untouched as the box’s exterior.</p>
<p>Plus, the cigars will be subtly infused with the faint aroma of The Balvenie 21 Year Old Portwood. Adorned with 24-karat-gold-plated hinges and large enough to hold 125 cigars, each humidor is individually numbered and signed. Priced at $3,995, only 50 humidors are available. Each comes with a bottle of The Balvenie 12 Year Old DoubleWood single malt (aged in bourbon barrels and finished in sherry casks), two tasting glasses, and a pictorial commemorative booklet about the unique humidor. (714.973.8660, <a href="http://www.thegoldencigar.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >www.thegoldencigar.com</a>)</p>
</div></div></d...Fri, 03 Jan 2014 18:07:34 +0000Richard Carleton Hacker443791 at http://robbreport.comSmoke: Rolled Goldhttp://robbreport.com/Wine-Spirits-Cigars/Smoke-Rolled-Gold
<img src="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/images/articles/2012Mar/1946//1042928.jpg" /><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><figure class="clearfix field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/images/articles/2012Mar/1946//1042928.jpg"><div class="galleria-content clearfix" id="galleria-2">
<a href="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/styles/galleria_full/public/images/articles/2012Mar/1946//1042928.jpg?itok=sfzXPOdx" rel="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/images/articles/2012Mar/1946//1042928.jpg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-watch-collector-148x173" src="http://robbreport.com/sites/default/files/styles/watch_collector_148x173/public/images/articles/2012Mar/1946//1042928.jpg?itok=YhueOmZz" alt="Photo by Cordero Studios/www.corderostudios.com" title="Daniel Marshall’s DM 2 Gold Torpedo is an extravagant smoke, with a 24-karat gold-leaf wrapper and a $200 price tag." /></a></div>
</figure></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><ul class="field-items"><li class="field-item even">
<a href="/content/richard-carleton-hacker">Richard Carleton Hacker</a>
</li></ul></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-fulltext"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p dir="LTR">It is an axiom that as much as 80 percent of a cigar’s flavor comes from its wrapper. But what if that wrapper were made of pure gold? That was the burning question at last year’s International Premium Cigar &amp; Pipe Retailers trade show, where an aura of excitement surrounded Daniel Marshall’s booth. Even the most jaded tobacconists gathered round to gawk at a golden cigar showcased among Marshall’s "one thousand coat finish" humidors. For years, Marshall was strictly a California-based maker of handcrafted, precious-wood humidors. Then, in 1995, he started a line of DM premium cigars.</p>
<p dir="LTR">But his new 24-karat DM 2 Gold Torpedo is something else entirely: Marshall painstakingly applies sheets of 24-karat Florentine gold leaf—made by Giusto Manetti Battiloro, one of the world’s oldest gold-leaf manufacturers—to the surface of his Red Label cigar. He chooses only cigars with the smoothest wrappers to highlight the soft sheen, and takes 45 minutes to roll the gold onto each cigar, a process that includes carefully sandpapering the wrappers beforehand to make them even smoother. He makes just one size: a 6¼ × 54 torpedo priced at $200 each. (He is also offering five gold cigars in a signed and numbered burlwood desk/travel humidor for $1,000.)</p>
<p dir="LTR">Firing up a Gold Torpedo is indeed a departure from the normal cigar experience. Before the first puff, there is a certain trepidation in clipping the golden perfecto tip and watching it tumble into the ashtray. Lighting is best done with the hotter flame of a butane torch, because of the high flashpoint of gold compared with the relatively instant combustion of tobacco. After a slight flaring of the metal encircling the foot, the gold that does not burn away quickly melts onto the wrapper. The cigar itself, a Nicaraguan <em>puro</em>, consists of a full-bodied Jalapa filler blend, a milder Estelí binder, and, underneath the go...Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:00:00 +0000Richard Carleton Hacker1946 at http://robbreport.com